Anyone who's played Capcom's Resident Evil will remember the boy scout Leon Kennedy. Since his debut in Resident Evil 2, Leon presented quite a humanized perspective on the chaos that ravaged the unfortunate Raccoon City. Moreover, his training as a police officer gave him an edge against the zombie outbreak that surprised him on his first day on the job.
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However, as fans will soon find out, Leon's initial inexperience will prove to help him exponentially in the years to come. Leon eventually stays in law enforcement, albeit this time juggling various tasks to help deter bioterror threats across the globe. Interestingly, fans may want to know more about Leon and his dashing good looks and his combat skills. As such, what else is there to know about Leon Scott Kennedy?
10 Too Similar To Chris
Fans might remember that Claire Redfield, the other RE2 protagonist, didn't arrive in development until the first few revisions. Claire's original iteration came in the form of Elza Walker, a motorcycle racer who studied at Raccoon University. It wasn't until the first revision that Elza became Claire, as Capcom wanted the female protagonist to be related to Chris. Interestingly, Leon's design received more aesthetic changes than core revisions.
For instance, Leon originally had two main design concepts for RE2. According to Mikami, the team settled for the design that looked like Leon in the original release. However, initial concept art showed that Leon's conceptual design "looked too much" like Chris Redfield.
9 The Blue To Claire's Red
As mentioned, Capcom transformed Elza into Claire before the final release of RE2. However, fans will notice that both Elza and Claire had a predominant "red" theme throughout their design phase. Claire has a punk-rock aesthetic - a stark contrast to the more disciplined Leon. Moreover, Claire's "sidekick" Sherry shared an opposing innocent look with her blue dress.
Interestingly, Leon shares exactly the opposite color scheme with Claire. As a police officer, Leon had predominantly blue colors. Moreover, Leon's law enforcement nature gave him a rather "stiff" motif contrary to Claire's free spirit. Likewise, Leon's "sidekick" Ada Wong will have a red form-fitting dress and a rather mysterious spy/criminal nature, opposing Leon in both color and profession.
8 Originally Trapped On The Get-Go
Unlike the heavily-revised Elza Walker (who turned into Claire), Leon's original story still became easily-digestible. Instead of stumbling into a zombie outbreak on his first day, Leon will already find himself and other cops holed in the Raccoon City Police Station. Leon will still be a rookie, but he's already been in the city for a few days before the incident.
As a means to declare his boy scout and optimistic nature, Leon would try to boost the morale of his fellow cops by encouraging them to brave the horrific city with him. Back then, Capcom set Leon to have two supporting characters - fellow officer Marvin Branagh, and researcher Linda (who becomes Ada).
7 Different Ways Of Getting Into The City
Due to the games not always exploring a protagonist's origins, players don't know much about Leon's life before RE2. What players do know is that Leon personally asked to be assigned in Raccoon City after hearing about the publicized murders in the Arklay Mountains. Unbeknownst to Leon, these pertained to the outbreak in the Spencer Mansion in RE. Accounts now differ as to how Leon got into the city.
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In one account, Leon appeared to have no apartment to stay in or no travel plans whatsoever. As a result, his girlfriend broke up with him, and Leon overslept the night before his first day. On another account, Leon came to Raccoon City a week after receiving a call "not to come" there.
6 Different Ways Of Realizing "It" Hit The Fan
Leon yet again stumbles upon different accounts of learning the severity of Raccoon City's situation with the T-Virus outbreak. In one version of the story, Leon finds himself surrounded by zombies after arriving on a rather quiet main road. He meets fellow survivor Claire Redfield and they eventually used a police cruiser. In another account, the two survivors meet but this time in the Mizoil Gas Station outside the city. Whichever the account, both cars they chose were destroyed and the two had to make way to the Department on their own.
Interestingly, the "multiple accounts" served as a way to stir up useful gossip regarding the sole survivors of the city's outbreak. Meta-wise, the "accounts" referred to the scenarios players chose when playing RE2. Sadly, these accounts served as the last of "different scenarios" in a numbered title, as the titles after focused on a single set of events from the perspective of one or multiple protagonists.
5 Received Special Training
After the events of RE2, Claire and Leon would split up and follow different objectives. In Claire's case, she continued her search for her brother Chris. Meanwhile, Leon would look after Sherry.
Shortly after splitting up, Leon and Sherry would get the attention of the United States military. Leon would get interrogated by the US Military about the events of Raccoon City, but Leon would not mention anyone he's met there - including Claire, Sherry, and Ada. Regardless, the US Military recruits Leon for USSTRATCOM's efforts against bioterrorism. In here, Leon will receive special training to handle close-quarters combat, weapons handling, and expert assessment of threats.
4 Two Versions For Resident Evil 4
Interestingly, Leon would also find himself the participant of two prototypes for Resident Evil 4. In the first draft of RE4 dubbed "Castle," Leon and other officers would raid the Umbrella HQ housed within the Spencer Castle. Unfortunately, Leon will become infected with the Black Fog bio-organic weapon. Leon will have to work with a young woman to uncover the origins of the Progenitor Virus and Umbrella Corporation
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In the other "Hallucination" script, Leon suffers an infection that makes him hallucinate monsters. The team will scrap this in favor of the semi-final draft, "Zombie," where Leon has to fight humans that transform into mutant zombies due to parasites.
3 Specialized Battle Approach, Scenarios
As with other "trained" protagonists, Leon has a more combat-oriented approach in his appearances. He shows some degree of proficiency with hand-to-hand combat, but excels in using guns and knives thanks to his police profession and eventual training. In RE2, his missions become a bit harder than Claire's. Meanwhile, in RE6, Leon's scenario pays tribute to the horror atmosphere of the survival horror genre.
Meanwhile, Leon does receive some special perks in some appearances. For instance, in RE6's New York incident, Leon becomes the only character capable of dual-wielding.
2 Evidently Traumatized
Despite the sheer bravery and skill of Resident Evil's protagonists, trauma became one of the more unexplored topics in the franchise. Save for STARS members, protagonists Leon and Claire didn't expect themselves to come across the living dead in their time in Raccoon City. Worse, whereas Claire got exposed to social service efforts, Leon stayed with law enforcement through and through.
Given his experiences across various outbreaks, people can evidently notice some form of PTSD on Leon's end. In the Vendetta film, this is made apparent when Leon expresses his dismay after having to fight battle after battle against zombies with no end in sight.
1 May Have Had A Hollywood Spin
Hardcore fans might remember that former series producer Shinji Mikami had a huge fascination with the film industry. For instance, fans speculate that Mikami got Ada Wong's femme fatale persona from Nikita of 1990's La Femme Nikita. However, some speculate that Mikami also got the inspiration for Leon in the same manner - albeit minus the horrifying viruses.
Film fans will likely remember the 1994 film Leon: The Professional. Interestingly, Leon shares not just the same genre as La Femme, both being action thrillers. Rather, Leon actually has similar design themes - in that, the film also involves an assassin. Contrary to the female assassin Nikita, the eponymous Leon serves as a professional hitman. In The Professional, Leon becomes the reluctant father figure to Mathilda, a 12-year-old who starts learning the assassin's trade. Interestingly, Leon Kennedy's signature weapon in Resident Evil bears the name Mathilda.